And I bring out east of my beloved Spain, and into the mediterranean. I came here as a boy when my Aunt lives just south in El Saler, then spent many years without coming back,and then voilà came often the last few years! This is Valencia the city of the paella and a lot more.
I like to take you into a bit of history on its gastronomy delights ,and what better than the markets or mercados of Valencia. The two I love are the Mercado Central and Mercado de Colon, with the later been my favorite of all.
Let me start you off by showcasing the Mercado Central or Central Market to many is the most popular and the most visited of all in Valencia.
The Mercado Central is located in the Plaza Ciudad de Brujas. It is considered as one of the masterpieces of Valencian modernism.
It is a construction of Valencian modernist style began to be built in the year 1914 and ended in 1928. The Mercado Central combines metal, domes, glass, columns, the Gothic memory of modernism, as if it were a cathedral of commerce, combining with the neighbouring Lonja de la Seda. In the center of the building you can see a large dome topped by a weather vane.
It is located on the Plaza del Mercado , next to the Lonja de la Seda or silk market and the Plaza de la Ciudad de Brujas. The old Calle de la Paja separates the Mercado Central to the Church of the Saints Juanes. On the opposite side, the Mercado Central gives to the beautiful Calle Palafox, Plaza en Gall and Calle de las Calabazas.
This spectacular market, has 1,200 stands in which sells all kinds of food such as fish, shellfish, fruits, meats and sausages both for domestic consumption and to supply important restaurants in Valencia, which is crowned as the market biggest fresh produce in Europe. The purchase in this place is loaded with great charm by the beauty of its architecture and the tradition and history of the market.
I like to give you here some webpages to help you plan your trip here and is a must.
Tourist office of Valencia on Mercado Central
City of Valencia on Mercado Central
Then , I move on to the one we like the most and do parking there when visiting the city lately. This is the Mercado de Colon or Columbus market.
The Mercado de Colón is located in Calle Jorge Juan ,19 , the building, was conceived and realized between the years 1914 and 1916. It is one of the best examples of the architecture of the Valencian modernism of the beginning of the century.
The Mercado de Colón is located in the city’s Eixample, between the Calle Colón and Gran via Marqués de Turia (Calle Conde Salvatierra, Calle Jorge Juan, Calle Cirilo Amoros, and Calle Martínez Ferrando), located in what was formerly the gas factory of the Marqués de Campo
The administrative antecedents of the Mercado de Colon (Columbus market) are in the continuous requests of owners and neighbors to the city council towards 1890, in which they requested the implantation of provisional or definitive markets in the area of the Ensanche to avoid the itinerant sale that was generated with the need to obtain goods and necessities without the inconvenience of reaching the remote Mercado Central markets or that of Ruzafa.
The Mercado de Colon, like any modernist work, participates in a vast vision of architecture as a total work of art, in which design extends from the conception of the building to each of the elements that form it, with special emphasis on the applied arts. The design of the cast iron columns, in brick, in polychrome ceramics: used as an aesthetic and ornamental element in mosaics and claddings of facades, glass, stone ashlars, artificial stone, used for the program Iconography of the market and carpentry.
The Mercado de Colon has a total area of 3,500 m². It presents a basilica plant of 3 naves, a central one of 18.60 meters high and two smaller sides of 9.70 meters. With lighting with cantilevers of 6 meters. On each side, organized in 9 bays of 7 meters of separation. The structure consists of trusses and metal lattice arches made by profiles composed of colonnades joints, and screws in the links with the foundry pillars that support the roof, with heights of 8 meters and 5 meters, with capital and ornamented base. The cover is made by means of square fibre-cement plates , which are fastened with wire to their diagonals. The access to the enclosure is produced by eight large doors that provide a great permeability and connect functionally with the environment throughout its perimeter. They are made with profiles and steel plates, with ornamental elements of smelting and forging.
The doors are located in the chamfers and in the centers of each facade. In the facade towards to the Calle Jorge Juan is located a pavilion for municipal uses, 31 x 7.5 meters base, which rises in a pointed arch of 16 meters high and 13 meters of light between supports , with the depth of a creak. It starts from two rectangular base bodies, in one of which is the access staircase to the upper gallery. In the other there are several municipal galleries distributed on three floors. Between the two elements it crosses a gallery destined to offices, built like a bridge between the supports of the arch. Two chimneys topped with curved shapes lined with ceramic fragments are raised on the canopy deck. This façade presents a complete iconographic and symbolic program, in which they are present from the poultry (turkeys, ducks, hens pheasants, geese, roosters) until the butchery (meats, pigs, cows, rabbits), passing by the fish (crabs, crayfish , eels, fish, molluscs), vegetables (pumpkins, corn, peppers cucumbers, tomatoes), snails, flowers of different type and, of course, the fruit (figs, lemons, apricots, pineapples nuts, pineapples, vines, bananas, melons, pomegranates, apples, oranges , pears). Unlike the facade of the Calle Jorge Juan, the towards to that of Calle Conde Salvatierra, consists of a single plane lacking volumetry, executed in brick and with combination of natural and artificial stone .
The plane of this facade is limited laterally by troncocónics columns finished in pinnacles, in whose center opens a large parabolic arch of brick of similar dimensions to the other and whose eardrum is closed by a colossal window. The lower part is topped up to about 4 meters high by means of a glass canopy on metal carpentry. At the base of the two great side pinnacles are placed the flower stalls, of great lightness and wavy cover also covered with ceramic fragments. This façade, on the other hand, appears without ornaments, except for some isolated and imperceptible details in the whole as the Rams, the Snails, the pears and the strips of garlic.
On December 24, 1916, Christmas Eve, the Mercado de Colon was inaugurated, and according to a local newspaper, it was a spectacular event: from the bullring came a cavalcade formed by the mounted Municipal Guard with the timpani and bugles of the city , the rock of fame, market vendors, the fishing groups, birds and meats and flowers, fruits and vegetables, a chariot occupied by the Queen of the party accompanied by her court of Honor. The Municipal Band and a section of the Civil Guard closed the celebration.
The Mercado de Colon has been transformed into a hotel center, with a traditional horchatería, a biocafeteria, Biobrewery, a cafeteria-franchise, two foreign breweries and a restaurant coexist with a florist and the only three original establishments that have lasted: a delicatessen , a fish shop and a fruit shop. A basement that houses a parking area, leaving the central part free for cultural events.
Some webpages to help you plan your trip here and it is a must are
Tourist office of Valencia on Mercado de Colon
City of Valencia on Mercado de Colon
And there you go , a shopper’s paradise full of history and gorgeous architecture. IN addition, a great city ambiance and people pleasers, a joy to be there. Hope you enjoy the tour of the wonderful Mercado Central and Mercado de Colon of Valencia.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 